Constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices across an IoT group may have to transition from a safe operational state to a safety critical operational state on detection of critical sensor assertions. For example, a smoke alarm can monitor smoke to detect a potential fire. If detected, a security controller that receives a report from the smoke alarm calls for action for IoT devices in a given location to transition to an emergency response state. This may include action to notify all door/window IoT devices to transition to an unlock mode. This operation may require IoTs to be overridden by safety controllers to a new state based on policy configuration. Compute complexity, latency, and security considerations all weigh on such operation.